Author: The Advisor That Cares

My awesome learning community met on Monday and Tuesday night. Monday night was our class call, but we were the only ones who remembered. Tuesday night was a meeting we scheduled over the weekend as an accountability and support for each other. One of my awesome group asked, “How are you feeling about your innovation update, Dawn?” and here’s what I had to say (speaking from the heart, in the moment)

I’m not in the same role as my innovation. I can follow my innovation until November, but then I changed roles, and my priority became less about pushing my innovation forward and more about creating a team.

Creating a culture in which I could then propose my innovation idea. I could not walk into that workplace and say, “Hey, nice to meet you. I am here to solve all your problems, and we will do it my way.” Talk about alienating people right out of the gate. I have instead worked to build relationships. It really has been a year of just stepping back and observing. I constantly think about Crucial Conversations, and undoubtedly that guides me in my interactions with team members. I am constantly thinking about the Influencer strategies and those vital behaviors. I have listened to the 4DX something like three times because I really believe in the idea of it, but it is very overwhelming to say I’m going to lead a staff meeting by saying “okay, we’re all going to come up with a wildly important goal. Then we are going to identify our lead measures. Together we can create a compelling scoreboard and we will have weekly WIG meetings and we’re going to do this thing.

I guess I have been setting the stage for future innovation.

I feel like I am in a much better position now, having done that work. By helping to create a positive workplace culture, we now have teams that are prepared to move forward together. Armed with these strategies, my innovation idea can continue to grow and evolve as additional brainpower and ideas are put toward the challenges our students face.

My classmate acknowledged that due to my change in roles, this delay in my innovation plans made perfect sense. I really did need to take this time to get to know my situation. Without taking this last year to step back I wouldn’t be able to identify those key players. I had to invest the time to assess what has been happening. I did not want to step into my role making changes just for change sake. I really wanted to know what would really make these advisors’ jobs more enjoyable, their work more accurate, and their workload more manageable, while equipping students with the self-efficacy they need to develop to successfully navigate college life. I want to be that catalyst for change! I want to help learners get the best possible experience out of their time at our institution. I want to help people achieve their dreams and be self-advocates throughout their lives.

Let me just say that I definitely need the Growth Mindset course before attempting the Literature Review. That first-semester writing assignment put me right back at my childhood kitchen table. My mom was visiting for the weekend.

So, my process was to print out articles and then look for themes. Here is an image of my initial literature review research process. I still struggle with research organization, but needless to say, this was the last time I attempted to print and physically organize it. I am a visual person, so the sorting process is helpful, but I learned over time and with experience that not every article on your topics is worth including.

I began my review outline and early writings, and it was a complete regression into our old roles. I was the frustrated and confused learner, and she was the “It is so obvious; how do I explain it to you any differently” knowledgeable expert?

It’s a Lit Review…

– Mom

I really thought my ship was going to sink before I even got through the first course of the program. This had me in full-out tears and beginning to question my professional embarrassment when I had to drop the first course for one of the programs I was advising. You see, in hindsight, I see now that I was still looking to my mom to explain it to me in a way that made the lightbulb go off. I still didn’t know how to be an auto-diadic learner. I was frustrated because she couldn’t make me understand. It was rough on both of us, having that flashback to my childhood.

It was not until I paused and thought about what we were learning throughout our discussion posts, video resources, and readings. I stopped looking to another person to help me understand and instead began looking up the meaning and purpose of a literature review. I watched YouTube videos on how to conduct and organize research. At one point, I attempted to explain to my mom that I was going about my approach all wrong. I now felt like I had a better understanding of what I needed to do, but she thought I was just being defeatist and trying to start over. I finally had to trust that I knew what I needed to do. I still struggled with the task and do not feel confident in my writing abilities, but completing that first literature review is an accomplishment that is mine alone.

Through the content of the coursework and through weekly class meetings with our learning facilitator, I recognized that simply translating higher-ed lingo was not going to be significant enough to sustain an innovation project throughout the ADL Program. I needed to think about the bigger picture and a more substantial impact.

Formulating an innovation proposal letter allowed me to refine and focus on exactly what I felt I could develop to support students, my fellow advisors, and our organization. After feedback from my learning community and course facilitator, I modified the innovation idea to the personally curated resources of an advisor’s knowledge. Proposed their innovation to my supervisor and was permitted to begin developing my innovation idea.

As I began to evaluate what (whispers: disruptive innovation) I could propose that would provide a solution within my organization, I immediately thought of something my husband and I call “5K Syndrome.”

Let me see if I can explain…

In 2010, after a long battle with high blood pressure, I decided to see if changing my lifestyle would help where medication had not been able to. In the process, I decided to complete a Couch to 5K training plan. I completed the weekly outlined progression of building up mileage and endurance completely indoors on my treadmill. I got up each morning before work or committed to running before bed. My physician suggested that I sign up for a 5K at the end of the training schedule to keep myself motivated to stay on track. My family and I were traveling to Dalhart, TX, for a family reunion (held annually with the XIT Reunion). On 08/07/2010, I participated in my first 5K “Chase a Coyote XIT Trail Run in Dalhart, TX,”

I remember returning to my physician for my next check-up, finally not dreading the lecture about needing to lose weight, exercise more, and manage stress. I proudly told her of my accomplishment and beamed, awaiting my pat on the back. Do you know what she did? She said, “when is your next one?” My jaw hit the floor! What was this lady talking about! I set a goal. I accomplished my goal. I did it. Next one? Geeze!

I went online and looked for the next available 5K, this time in my local community. My second 5K was at a 911 Remembrance Run on 09/11/2010, benefiting our city police department. Oh cool! I can support good causes with my entry fees? I’m in! Let’s do this! My husband and I arrived at the police station to several hustling and bustling runners. We wandered about following the crowds, but there was no information on where to go or what to do. It was highly frustrating, and finally, some lovely runner saw our lost looks of panic and showed us where to go and how to check-in.

Since that day, we consistently see this and refer to it in our organization. 5K Syndrome.

Higher education experiences a lot of 5K syndrome. There are a million policies to follow. If a student says the wrong word, they can be sent all over the institution only to be told they must begin again with the correct area/issue. Our terminology is poorly understood, and this seemed like the ideal place to focus my innovation efforts.

I began a test pilot of my innovation idea in my advising role (a personally curated resource of advising tips and knowledge). Advising.Blog was born to provide unlimited 24/7 access to an advisor’s information. From March 2022 through October 2022, I actively utilized my portfolio as an advising resource. I directed students to supplemental support that helped them onboard to the institution and their online graduate program. Seeing that my innovation idea was being utilized in the early pilot implementation phase was exciting.